Why I am so Happy with Nirvana
Just wanted to share some thoughts :-)
Nirvana has lots and lots of great features. The key features for me, that are not normally found in the majority of apps, are:
- manually sortable lists
- the choices in the left navi
All in all, these things are what makes it possible for me to organize my stuff just the way I naturally think about them, and have it all handy via the left navi:
- stuff that is possible to do now, that I am sure that I will do, the sooner the better, goes in Next
- stuff that might be possible to do, but I am not sure I will, goes in Someday
- stuff that I will likely do, but would be inappropriate to even consider until a certain time, goes in Scheduled
- stuff that I am not doing myself goes under Waiting, where I can keep an eye on it
- stuff that needs to be done in a particular order goes in a Project
This is perfect. No other app I have used has had this kind of clean interface. Those are precisely the things I want to see in the left navi. And I have them in Nirvana.
Further, the manual sorting allows me to arrange my stuff in each of these categories according to my own "intuitiive priority feeling", which is something I have always wanted to be able to do. Most apps have automatic sorting only, and even with the very powerful apps, with loads and loads of different kinds of"tags" etc, and advanced filtering and sorting capabilities to go with it, I still have never been able to emulate the order in which I would like to see my tasks. With Nirvana I can. All I need to do is drag. This is sacred to me.
The order into which I put my tasks for the most part is my own sense of priority: overall priority, all possible factors considered, such as deadlines, money, reputation, relationships, difficulty, risk etc etc. The more uncertain I am about how to do the task, the higher up it goes. The more money is involved, the higher up it goes. The nearer the deadline is, the higher up it goes. The more credibility I can gain by finishing sooner, the higher up it goes. Etc. And I do not need to sit and define all these criteria as tags and then filter by them or sort by them. I just intuitively drag each task into a suitable position. Simple and quick. And that order is just how I normally want to see my tasks when I look at them later.
In actual effect, this intuitive sorting order also corresponds very closely to the order in which i need to start doing the tasks. Barring any temporary variations in where I am, or what mood I am in etc, the sorting order is very much the same as the order in which I would have attacked the tasks under absolutely stable, normal conditons. On "normal" days I can often almost follow the Next list from top to bottom. I do not need Focus for that.
But I do use Focus, and I like it a lot. It is especially useful if, due to temporary constraints, such as context or mood changes, I can only do certain kinds of Next tasks, which may be spread out all over my Next list. Then it is very handy to be able to star them and get them onto one short list. I often also use the Focus list for trivial repeating tasks, such as daily checklists, and then do not even bother to drag these up to the top of my Next list. I also copy calendar events into Nirvana in the same way, every day. This keeps me from having to revisit my calendar all the time.
My use of the Focus list varies a lot from day to day. I am totally unrestrained here, because I have not tied it up in any particular workflow. I have absolutely everything in my Next list also, and in good order, and can work from there if I want. Therefore I am free to use the Focus list as I see fit on each particular day. Some days, if I have many meetings and errands, I turn it into a detailed agenda. Some days I do not use it at all. Most days, I use the Focus list such that I put some shall-do tasks at the top and some will-probably-do tasks at the bottom, with a line in between, and change the second part during the day if required. Totally flexible.
All in all, this is wonderful. Gives me a feeling of total overview and full control - and flexibility. I would not want to have it any other way.
This does not mean I will not have a few modest suggestions here and there, of course, as you may have noticed. I enjoy being part of something that is moving in the right direction, and I love to take the opportunity to suggest things that I think will be worthwhile to consider.
I love to be here :-)
2 Posted by Proximo on 22 Feb, 2012 01:30 AM
I mirror your feelings.
See how much easier you make my life @Folke.
Here is an interesting story that ties into this post. My boss who is a VP, has recently asked for his Managers to submit a Weekly Status Report. He provided an Excel template for everyone to use. This first meeting with him based on this new weekly report started this past Tuesday.
His goal in doing this was to allow Managers to set goals for the week and give themselves a self assessment on their performance for the previous week. We meet with him every week and go over items slated for this week and what we accomplished last week based on the goals we set.
The idea here is to get people more productive so he is trying to shake things up and let everyone see were they stand when making goals for the week and comparing that goal to the actual output the following week.
I showed up with a blank Spread Sheet.
My boss looked at me puzzled and this is what I said.
"I understand that you are doing this to help us be accountable to ourselves, the goals we set and make us more productive." I told him that I already have a system that I have been using for a long time and it's based on "GTD".
He did not know what GTD was, so I gave a very brief explanation and then showed him my Nirvana iOS app. I told him that I also have this as a web app running on my office computer and that I can show him everything I have done for the past year.
I told him that I can't tell him ahead of time what my goals will be for the week because I base my productivity on Time, Energy and Context. I explained how this allows me to work on best possible task at any given time and how the traditional priority based method does not work and why.
He looked over my list in the iOS app and I then walked him over to my computer and showed him the Web app. I then showed him my Logbook and the list of things I have done with the GTD method.
What did he say?
He told me that I am obviously ahead of the game on managing myself, my responsibilities and staying productive. He told me not to worry about his template and keep doing what I am doing.
NirvanaHQ and GTD ROCK!
I LOVE NirvanaHQ.
3 Posted by Phil on 22 Feb, 2012 03:42 AM
Awesome story Proximo.
I also echo Folke's love of Nirvana.
4 Posted by Don on 22 Feb, 2012 09:00 PM
@Proximo,
Alas, I wish I could show my boss the Nirvana iOS app... (hint, hint: I am registered with Test Flight ;-) )
5 Posted by bumpa on 24 Feb, 2012 06:14 AM
@Proximo - great story! Doesn't surprise me at all it went that way. @Folke - I'll re-read your post a couple of more times (which is normal for me) to make sure I have it all, but do always appreciate your input. Thanks.